Cape Cod Part 1

 Tuesday morning while the rest of us were asleep Luke headed out to run to MIT.  I think it was about a mile and a half away and I know he had to cross the Charles river via some bridge - but it all happened before I was awake. When he'd asked the night before if we cared if he left early to go do a run I said I didn't mind as long as he took a picture ;) 

We ordered bagels and Mason asked if he could go by himself to grab them and he Facetimed when he got there which was so cute.  

I'm going to say something that I need to keep reminding myself... the GOAL is independence, y'all. And time goes QUICK! These little moments where they get to exercise their independence all add up to confident and wise decision-making so while sometimes it can be nerve-wracking it's necessary.  Okay - stepping off my soap box now ;) 

Quick bagel breakfast...

... packed up the room...

... and grabbed an Uber to the rental car facility (by the airport). 

Sidenote: We LOVED the Westin Copley Place.  It was a great location, the service was wonderful, and the room was PERFECT for our family.  It can be hard to find a hotel situation that doesn't require two rooms (which can be super expensive) and this room was HUGE with plenty of room for all of us. 

We hopped in the rental car and drove about 45 minutes to Concord, MA to see Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House.   Griffin and I watched Little Women this past winter (her first time) and since then I'm fairly certain she's watched it weekly and has read most of the book.  

I forgot to buy tickets ahead of time but we were able to walk in, wait about 15 minutes and get put on a tour which was PERFECT.

Look how excited these boys are to be here ;)

The tour started off in the schoolhouse...

... where we watched a 20-minute video/intro and then headed into the house itself.  They didn't allow photos on the tour - but YOU GUYS.  It was SO SO SO GOOD! 

The house is full of original pieces and feels like the Alcott family is out for the afternoon and you're stepping into their home.  It was super special.

After the tour we hit up the gift shop and took one last peek around the garden.

After the tour we drove about 45 minutes to a Costco that was on or way to our house on Cape Cod.  While we enjoy a meal out - we were more than ready for dinners at "home" and the easiest way we've found to do that is premade meals from Costco.  We grabbed a few of those along with a couple of essentials... 

... including hot dogs (because classy)....

... and then drove the rest of the way (about 30 mins) to Sandwich.

We pulled into our rental house (OMG!!!)...

... spent some time getting settled in and oohing and aaahing over the house...

... and then set out to check out the town. It was chilly and a bit drizzly but we were pretty much instantly charmed by Sandwich and how darling everything was.

We made our way to the beach...

... and then walked back to the house.

Everything was CUTE!

Later that night we played a bunch of Monopoly Deal...

... and enjoyed some lasagna before absolutely crashing.

As always, if you have any questions please don't hesitate to shoot me an email or leave them in the comments!